er incited by the enemies of our Lord,
and therefore assembled in crowds round the palace of Caiphas, to bring
forward all their false accusations and to endeavour to cover with
infamy that spotless Lamb, who took upon himself the sins of the world,
and accepted the burden in order to reconcile man with God.

Whilst all these wicked beings were busily consulting as to what was
best to be done, anguish and anxiety filled the hearts of the friends
of Jesus, for they were ignorant of the mystery which was about to be
accomplished, and they wandered about, sighing, and listening to every
different opinion. Each word they uttered gave raise to feelings of
suspicion on the part of those who they addressed, and if they were
silent, their silence was set down as wrong. Many well-meaning but weak
and undecided characters yielded to temptation, were scandalised, and
lost their fait; indeed, the number of those who persevered was very
small indeed. Things were the same then as they oftentimes are now,
persons were willing to serve God if they met with no opposition from
their fellowcreatures, but were ashamed of the Cross if held in
contempt by others. The hearts of some were, however, touched by the
patience displayed by our Lord in the midst of his sufferings, and they
walked away silent and sad.

CHAPTER V.

A Glance at Jerusalem.

The customary prayers and preparations for the celebration of the
festival being completed, the greatest part of the inhabitants of the
densely-populated city of Jerusalem, as also the strangers congregated
there, were plunged in sleep after the fatigues of the day, when, all
at once, the arrest of Jesus was announced, and everyone was aroused,
both his friends and foes, and numbers immediately responded to the
summons of the High Priest, and left their dwellings to assemble at his
court. In some parts the light of the moon enabled them to grope their
way in safety along the dark and gloomy streets, but in other parts
they were obliged to make use of torches. Very few of the houses were
built with their windows looking on the street, and, generally
speaking, their doors were in inner courts, which gave the streets a
still more gloomy appearance than is usual at this hour. The steps of
all were directed towards Sion, and an attentive listener might have
heard persons stop at the doors of their friends, and knock, in order
to awaken them--then hurry on, then again stop to question others, a